Ferguson makes case for Thuram in defence

Manchester United will open talks with Juventus for Lilian Thuram, after the Italian club paved the way for a sale.

The United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, a long term admirer of the French World Cup player, missed out on him last summer when Juve stepped in at the last minute to sign him from Parma.

However, the new Italian champions whose £16m offer for the Italian international Fabio Cannavaro has been accepted by Thuram's former club Parma may now be ready to sell. Cannavaro, who has previously featured on United's shopping list, will complete the move in the next few days before joining Italy's World Cup preparations.

Juve signed Thuram for £22m but it would take a reduced fee of around £15m before United's money men agree to a deal. The latest episode in Ferguson's protracted search for new defenders may prove difficult given that any fee spent on him would be "dead money" in the eyes of the plc.

Another stumbling block to any potential deal would be Thuram's weekly salary of around £60,000, which would be against United's club policy of signing players into their mid-30s on big contracts. Ferguson needs to shore up his back line after the imminent departures of Ronny Johnsen on a free transfer and the Old Trafford retirement of Denis Irwin. Fringe players such as Dwight Yorke and Quinton Fortune could also leave. The Greek international right-back Christos Patsatzoglou is also under consideration, but Ferguson has been told by the club's chief executive Peter Kenyon that any transfer activity will require some financial juggling.

Sir Alex's former No 2 at Old Trafford, Steve McClaren, failed in a belated attempt to sign Gary Rowett for his Middlesbrough side, after the player agreed to join Charlton Athletic in a £2.5m deal. McClaren moved for the right-back over the weekend only to discover that the Addicks' manager Alan Curbishley had already agreed a price and terms.

Rowett's rushed move was given the go-ahead by Leicester, who plan to rake in £14m from sales this summer after their relegation.

Meanwhile, Leicester's Robbie Savage has denied that he has had talks with Everton about a move.

Lee Bowyer is adamant he wants to stay at Leeds – but accepts he is nothing more than "a piece of meat" to the club if they want to cash in on his talents.

Leeds are heavily in debt, to such an extent that manager David O'Leary is under orders from chairman Peter Ridsdale and the club's plc to sell four players net during the summer, and at a considerable profit.

Bowyer said: "I've seen the banners and I've had great support from the fans ever since I have been here, I want to stay at Leeds and I'm hopeful things will be sorted. There's been some rubbish in the papers about how I've been in Manchester and here and there. I've been nowhere - just in my house.

"People say I'm stalling, but I'm not, I'm waiting for the chairman to get back to my agent, and if they want me to stay they will give me the contract I want.

"I get treated the way they want to treat me. If they want to sell me to get money then they will sell me. It's out of my hands.

"If the chairman is saying he has to sell players, then that is what he is going to do. It's nothing to do with the players."

The Football League is close to a deal with the owners of the collapsed pay-TV firm ITV Digital over a television rights contract, according to reports yesterday. The league has been trying to recoup almost £180m owed for television rights, which became worthless when ITV Digital went out of business last month.

"The landscape now is much more amenable," the Football League chairman Keith Harris said yesterday. "We're in discussions. It will be unbelievably damaging if I say any more than that. I think there are better odds for it not going to court now. I am hopeful of a settlement."